No plans to revise Belarus’ social and economic development forecast for 2009

The Economy Ministry is not going to revise the forecast of Belarus’ social and economic development in 2009, said Economy Minister of Belarus Nikolai Zaichenko at a session of the Council of Ministers Presidium on February 24. The session discussed the performance of the Belarusian economy in January and expected performance in Q1 2009, BelTA has learnt.

The Economy Minister said: “Many suggest changing the adopted forecast in favour of more real economic growth targets. The Economy Ministry also put forward proposals for decreasing the load in Q1 and Q2 2009. However, at present nobody has precise knowledge about the deepness and duration of the financial crisis. This is why we believe it is inadvisable to suggest revising the forecast to the head of state. The adopted forecast does not impede specific efforts aimed at developing the economy,” said Nikolai Zaichenko.

He noted, the economy performance is determined by flagship companies to a large extent. At present the effectiveness of these companies is somewhat lower than the industry’s. In particular, out of 164 monitored flagship companies 60 ones have reduced their output.

The government has adopted a system of measures to ensure the steady operation of Belarusian companies during the global financial crisis and stabilise the economy. Decisions have been made concerning the sale of products at prices lower than the prime cost, giving preferential interest rates for loans, a zero customs duty on imported equipment, a tax respite and other measures. However, efforts of some government agencies are insufficiently effective in taking some of these measures.

Nikolai Zaichenko also believes Belarus needs additional measures to stimulate the domestic demand. He suggested the expansion of sales by instalment as one of the instruments able to increase the capacity of the home market for Belarusian manufacturers of consumer goods. It should be done primarily via proprietary shops.